Some conventional hanger systems for hanging pipe can include one or more clevis hangers. A conventional clevis hanger can include a clevis top and a clevis bottom, each formed from a shaped strip of stamped steel. The clevis bottom can be shaped to include a saddle shaped to receive the pipe with legs extending upward from the saddle. The clevis top can be shaped to include a central support feature for connecting the clevis top to a hanging rod, with legs extending downward from the support feature. To allow the pipe to be supported by the hanging rod, the clevis top can be secured to the hanging rod, and the legs of the clevis top can be disposed to overlap with the legs of the clevis bottom, so that holes on each one of the legs are aligned. A bolt can then be inserted through the holes and anchored with a threaded nut, in order to secure the clevis top to the clevis bottom.
In different installations, clevis hangers may need to support significant loads. Under sufficiently large loads, however, conventional designs can suffer from unwanted deformation of the clevis top or the clevis bottom, or outright failure of the clevis top or the clevis bottom. For example, under a sufficiently large load, stresses at the various leg holes can lead to stress failure of the clevis top or the clevis bottom, including complete tearing of the steel at the holes used to connect the clevis top to the clevis bottom.
Some conventional hanger systems can also include pipe shields, as may be useful, for example, to support insulated pipe on a clevis hanger. In some conventional arrangements, a pipe shield can be designed to be welded or riveted onto a clevis bottom of a clevis hanger so that the pipe shield is interposed between the clevis bottom and the supported pipe. Installation of pipe shields with riveting or welding can be time-consuming, however, and may be difficult to execute at installation sites. In other conventional arrangements, a pipe shield can simply be placed onto a clevis bottom, without welding or fasteners. However, this may result in the pipe shield shifting into an undesired orientation or falling away from the clevis hanger, including during installation of pipe to be supported by the clevis hanger.